Minimalism, money, and the myth of control when we budget

How my no-buy year left me miserable and why restricting my spending reminds me of restricting my calories

I canceled my subscription to Amazon Prime in January 2024.

My resolutions last year weren’t about meditation, drinking green juice, or exercising more. Instead, they focused on something bigger—my community and our planet. I felt good about this shift in my priorities, away from the “I” and more towards community wellness. I felt so good that I even shared it on Notes:

Notes like this are a surefire way to get tons of clout/views on places like Substack. We love an ethical girlie!!!!!

Within a few days of canceling my subscription, I noticed I was being targeted videos on “no-buy” years¹ anytime I opened YouTube.

Since I’m already canceling Amazon, I thought, might as well minimize all spending this year! Intrigued, I watched Grace Nevitt’s “My official no buy plan for 2024”.

The decision was made. I wrote down my reasons for engaging in a no-buy year myself:

• Saving money

• Quell the desire to accumulate

• Spend on experiences, not things

• Lean further into an identity that I wanted to align myself with: careful with my finances, shopping mindfully, saving up for a house/cabin

• Simplify my life

• I had a small apartment with ONE closet for all of my belongings (small space living)

• Anger at Jeff Bezos and what all the Amazon ordering was doing to our community, minds, and the planet

How I got sucked in

During a no-buy year, you categorize your spending rules into three sections: greenlight (allowed purchases), yellowlight (non-essentials that can be negotiated), and redlight (do not buy under any circumstances). This a popular way of organizing behaviors in recovery rooms surrounding addictions, but also in weight loss programs (“good food”, “bad food”, etc).

She spoke out against stockpiling things and warned against buying things just because they are on sale, even if you know you’ll use them. In a minimalist world, you only buy what you need, which may mean buying items when they’re not on sale or going to the store more often. The point is: less clutter in your home means less clutter in your mind. All things I agreed/agree with.

Grace ran through her light list: she’d green-lighted toilet paper, deodorant, and Spotify. She yellow-lighted home improvement and travel. On her red list were things like jewelry, clothes, nail polish, and books.

I immediately downloaded her Notion page and began filling it out myself.

Here’s what I green/yellow/red-lighted on my list: